> No flame here but a comment or two... about some of the self flaggelation
> on the part of a couple of our American friends coming from this thread.
I don't know about 'self-flagellation,' but more of a criticism. The
overall sentiment in America is that most everyone is unhappy with the
way things are going in the country, albeit for varying reasons.
> Sure the US has some serious race/class problems but African American
> culture is absorbed there to a great extent either overtly or
> subconciously, and this goes way beyond music.
True, but most of the race/class problems are largely due to the fact
that they are a backlash reaction to the progress that certain
races/ethnic groups have attained or are trying to attain. And every
racial/ethnic group is guilty of this.
> The problems that do exists are not exclusive to the US though. That AJ
> may be considered more mainstream in the UK than in the US does not owe to
> any type of unique benign social enlightenment. The UK does have its Yobs and
> such. The trashy end of British media can be as bad as anywhere on Earth.
That is true, but most Americans don't think life exists outside our
borders. They hear "Bosnia, Bosnia, Bosnia" or "South Africa, South Africa"
and are not intelligent enough to make any relevance to our lives here.
Remember, we're talking about a culture that reveres Howard Stern and
Rush Limbaugh as literary figures, for crying out loud.
> So if the UK provides some excellent AJ which filters up
> naturally to their commercial market, the same happens in the US, Jamaica,
> South America, Africa and other places which provide the the foundations
> from which AJ fusions derive from.
> Is it 'cooler' to have a BNH tune in the top 40 UK charts than
> 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' on a U.S. T.V. commercial
> or the latest dancehall flavour doing commercials on Jamaican T.V
> an' on, an' on, an' on, an' on?
Actually, yes. Forgive me if I'm partial to BNH, as I still like them
even though the majority of people on this list think they suck, but
a song is different than a commercial. People *buy* records, and request
them on the radio, and want to hear them when they dance in a club, but
commercials are smacked in your face when you're watching TV. And besides,
BNH is not the only acid-jazz (related) artist to hit the Top 40 in Britain.
I thought I've made that point before.
Yeah, I've seen the 'Revolution' commercial. It sounds cool, but come on,
the real definition of 'the revolution' has been replaced with 'Basketball.'
And most kids who are into hip-hop never probably never heard the original,
so it just passes over their heads.
I'm sort of skeptical to the use of "jazzy-funky-hip-hoppish" music used
in commercials. No the fact that they are a tool of commercialization,
mind you, but the fact that it would probably be ingrained in people's
(read the ignorant Americans') minds that this is 'background music for
commercials' and not serious music to listen to or to dance to.
Don't get me wrong, I love America. As a physical, geographical and
geological entity, the United States is the greatest country in the world.
(i.e. no other country has so many different climates, natural wonders, etc)
But as a people, let's face it, we suck!
Elson